House, home and dwellings - in an Australian context

Theoretical evidence in the behavioural and social sciences has shown the home to be a phenomenon borne of the complex relationship between individuals and their environment. A qualitative assessment of the specific home experiences of 12 case studies is offered to establish an understanding of home within a particular socio-cultural context in Australia. The thesis contends that the affective home has primacy in the home experience.

Public relations in the third sector

This chapter explore the growth of the third sector (NGOs, not for profits and community action groups) and their use of communication techniques from a socio-cultural perspective.

A snapshot of science education in kindergarten settings

Across Victoria, early childhood practitioners are incorporating science activities into daily experiences for their children. A small research project, which asked teachers to describe what they did in science and how they did it, has highlighted some interesting differences. This paper will describe case studies of four kindergarten settings and some of the experiences undertaken by the children—both as part of the formal program and through incidental play. It will consider these through a socio-cultural framework, noting how teachers used their understandings of play and language theories, to enhance children's understandings in science.

Evaluation of the childhood obesity prevention program kids - go for your life

Background
Kids - 'Go for your life' (K-GFYL) is an award-based health promotion program being implemented across Victoria, Australia. The program aims to reduce the risk of childhood obesity by improving the socio-cultural, policy and physical environments in children's care and educational settings. Membership of the K-GFYL program is open to all primary and pre-schools and early childhood services across the State. Once in the program, member schools and services are centrally supported to undertake the health promotion (intervention) activities. Once the K-GFYL program 'criteria' are reached the school/service is assessed and 'awarded'. This paper describes the design of the evaluation of the statewide K-GFYL intervention program.

Methods/Design
The evaluation is mixed method and cross sectional and aims to:
1) Determine if K-GFYL award status is associated with more health promoting environments in schools/services compared to those who are members only;
2) Determine if children attending K-GFYL award schools/services have higher levels of healthy eating and physical activity-related behaviors compared to those who are members only;
3) Examine the barriers to implementing and achieving the K-GFYL award; and
4) Determine the economic cost of implementing K-GFYL in primary schools
Parent surveys will capture information about the home environment and child dietary and physical activity-related behaviors. Environmental questionnaires in early childhood settings and schools will capture information on the physical activity and nutrition environment and current health promotion activities. Lunchbox surveys and a set of open-ended questions for kindergarten parents will provide additional data. Resource use associated with the intervention activities will be collected from primary schools for cost analysis.

Discussion
The K-GFYL award program is a community-wide intervention that requires a comprehensive, multi-level evaluation. The evaluation design is constrained by the lack of a non-K-GFYL control group, short time frames and delayed funding of this large scale evaluation across all intervention settings. However, despite this, the evaluation will generate valuable evidence about the utility of a community-wide environmental approach to preventing childhood obesity which will inform future public health policies and health promotion programs internationally.

Trial Registration
ACTRN12609001075279

The development and validation of Australian indices of child development — part II : validity support

The two outcome indices described in a companion paper (Sanson et al., Child Indicators Research, 2009) were developed using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). These indices, one for infants and the other for 4 year to 5 year old children, were designed to fill the need for parsimonious measures of children’s developmental status to be used in analyses by a broad range of data users and to guide government policy and interventions to support young children’s optimal development. This paper presents evidence from Wave 1data from LSAC to support the validity of these indices and their three domain scores of Physical, Social/Emotional, and Learning. Relationships between the indices and child, maternal, family, and neighborhood factors which are known to relate concurrently to child outcomes were examined. Meaningful associations were found with the selected variables, thereby demonstrating the usefulness of the outcome indices as tools for understanding children’s development in their family and socio-cultural contexts. It is concluded that the outcome indices are valuable tools for increasing understanding of influences on children’s development, and for guiding policy and practice to optimize children’s life chances.

The role of NCCP time for enhancing children's creativity in technology

The focus of our research project was the question Can children‘s creativity be enhanced by including a period of non-conscious cognitive process (NCCP) time? During this non-thinking time the brain makes connections between independent ideas, forgets inappropriate responses, and makes available more relevant responses for problem solving. The research generated cases of several primary school classrooms as the teachers incorporated NCCP time in their design technology sessions. Children were observed and teachers interviewed about their perceptions of children‘s creativity as the children designed and produced recycling devices. The cases revealed an optimum time frame of several days for nonconscious cognitive processing. These findings have implications for teachers of technology who assign the same day and time each week for technology learning. During the non-task time, which included the NCCP time, children were able to discuss their ideas with family members. As children learn in socio-cultural contexts, these discussions can be fruitful. The teachers indicated that peer discussions also played an important role after the generation of designs.

Reconstructing violent rural masculinities : responding to fractures in the rural gender order in Australia

Men's violence against women is higher in rural communities compared to urban areas and many writers have identified the increased vulnerability of women in rural areas when addressing men's violence. This article will explore the implications of the emerging scholarship on rural masculinities for understanding how rurality invokes different modes of masculinity associated with men's violence in the context of rural restructuring. While the socio-cultural aspects of rural areas generate stronger enforcement of gender roles that perpetuate gender inequality, rural restructuring challenges dominant forms of masculinity, and this has contradictory consequences for reconstructing masculinities. Consequently, while many rural men are endeavouring to preserve traditional masculinity in the face of the rural crisis, other men are exploring alternative masculinities that are incompatible with men's violence against women.

Obesity prevention in the family day care setting : impact of the romp & chomp intervention on opportunities for children's physical activity and healthy eating

Background The Romp & Chomp intervention reduced the prevalence of overweight/obesity in pre-school children in Geelong, Victoria, Australia through an intervention promoting healthy eating and active play in early childhood settings. This study aims to determine if the intervention successfully created more health promoting family day care (FDC) environments.
Methods The evaluation had a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental design with the intervention FDC service in Geelong and a comparison sample from 17 FDC services across Victoria. A 45-item questionnaire capturing nutrition- and physical activity-related aspects of the policy, socio-cultural and physical environments of the FDC service was completed by FDC care providers (in 2008) in the intervention (n = 28) and comparison (n = 223) samples.
Results Select results showed intervention children spent less time in screen-based activities (P = 0.03), organized active play (P < 0.001) and free inside play (P = 0.03) than comparison children. There were more rules related to healthy eating (P < 0.001), more care provider practices that supported children’s positive meal experiences (P < 0.001), fewer unhealthy food items allowed (P = 0.05), higher odds of staff being trained in nutrition (P = 0.04) and physical activity (P < 0.001), lower odds of having set minimum times for outside (P < 0.001) and organized (P = 0.01) active play, and of rewarding children with food (P < 0.001).
Conclusions Romp & Chomp improved the FDC service to one that discourages sedentary behaviours and promotes opportunities for children to eat nutritious foods. Ongoing investment to increase children’s physical activity within the setting and improving the capacity and health literacy of care providers is required to extend and sustain the improvements.

Study on the visual performance of a vernacular dwelling in Egypt

Vernacular dwelling buildings located in hot arid regions are well known for their sensitive architecture response to the region’s climatic conditions and the socio-cultural norms. The architectural value of these buildings is not only limited to their historical merit, but also to the human conscious adaptation to its context and the optimum utilisation of natural resources creating both a pleasant and a functional environment. The majority of these traditional dwellings are well recognised for their unique perforated fenestration system and courtyard arrangement that evolved to control the harsh solar, climatic conditions without compromising the quality of space and occupants’ wellbeing. However, the successful design of these features and solutions cannot be fully appreciated without understanding the nature of daylight and solar radiation in which these buildings are revealed. This paper investigates the impact of the characteristic of the dense narrow streets of medieval cities on the visual performance of a typical courtyard house in Cairo.The paper examines the daylight  behaviour of one of the well-known historic alleys and of a courtyard house in Cairo. The paper analyzes and measures the variability in the visual perception and comfort for a typical pedestrian street and the occupants of the house using a simulation modelling tool (Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) software). The paper gives an insight into the overall visual performance of the urban fabric that shapes of the microclimate, which is an important ingredient of the overall identity of the place.

Evolutionary explanations in the social and behavioral sciences : introduction and overview

Despite a growing acceptance of the value of evolutionary approaches to understanding the natural world there has been relatively little attention paid to evolutionary ideas in sociology, socio-cultural anthropology, and — of particular relevance for this special issue — criminology and forensic/correctional psychology. The aim of this paper is to provide an introductory overview of evolutionary approaches to human behavior with a focus on illuminating the role they can play in enriching our understanding of criminal and antisocial behavior. We begin with an overview of the main approaches to applying evolutionary theory to human behavior and we suggest that a pluralistic perspective is most likely to advance conceptual and empirical work in the field. We then turn to a brief discussion of some common, but misguided criticisms of this approach. Some of the more substantive conceptual and methodological issues that evolutionary approaches need to address are then explored. Finally, we engage with the broader issues that relate to the role of evolutionary explanations in the social and behavioral sciences.

Skin pedagogies and abject bodies

How does the beauty industry ‘narrate the skin’? What does it teach women from different cultural groups about the female body? How does skin function as a site where female subjection and abjection are produced and reproduced? In this paper we examine the skin industry pointing to its extreme commodification of the female body and to the inexcusable pressure this places on females of most age and cultural groups.We focus on two examples. Firstly, we show what the skin industry teaches girls and women about both their skin colour ‘problems’ and desirable practices of whitening and, secondarily, tanning. Secondly, we consider what the cosmetic surgery industry teaches us about female bodily ‘imperfections’ linked to certain ethnic and racial groups and the necessary ‘remedies’. Overall we show how the socio-cultural normalization of perfect skin is a product of a range of contemporary and enduring social and cultural forces overlain by complex pedagogies of power, expertise and affect.

Entrapping Christian and Muslim Arabs in racial cartoons in Australia : the other anti-semitism

Racial Cartoons are a powerful force disguised as entertainment operating to shape public opinion. During the 1980s, 1990s and after 9/11 in 2001, cartoons in the Australian press were particularly directed against Muslim and Christian Arabs without remorse or fear of redress or accountability. The offensive of such cartoons has essentially been directed on three fronts—oil, politics and religion. The drawback resulting from socio-cultural, historical and other differences are no doubt visible; but equally obvious is that anti-Semitism, which was directed against the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s, is today mostly directed against the public relations deprived, opinion silenced and undemocratically governed, ethnically diverse Arabs. It is argued in this paper that several forces were behind such distorted visual strategies adopted by the Australian press. Pre-judgement stemming from an inbuilt bias of the cartoonist, or highlighting characteristics which conform to the national interest are likely factors. The debate in Australia as to whether public images and attitudes of a minority “cause” or “determine” policy or whether policy itself changes attitudes is still resting with the jury.

The manifestation of varieties of blended learning pedagogy (BLP) : interplay between academic, institutional and global pedagogy

Despite the increased recognition of the potential use of online technologies to deliver flexible and student-centered learning environments in higher education, there are numerous critiques that its usage does not transform the daily practices of teaching and learning. This paper draws on some of the findings from three case studies that explored the manifestation of blended learning pedagogies (BLP). Six academics teaching at three different higher education contexts at two different countries, namely Australia and Malaysia were interviewed. The study aimed to interrogate the different manifestation of BLP at the different contexts of higher education, highlighting the complex interplay between the users (academics), technology and the specific socio-cultural contexts. Focusing on the academic identities that are shaped and reshaped within its socio-cultural context, this study demonstrated the complexity and fluidity of the manifestation of the different varieties of BLP. It contributes to further understanding the ways in which online technologies are used in teaching and learning within context of global knowledge economy that emphasizes flexibility and active co-production of knowledge.

Study on the visual performance of a traditional residential neighborhood in old Cairo

Traditional dwellings located in the hot arid zones of the Arabian regions are well known for their sensitive architectural response to the region’s climatic conditions and socio-cultural norms. The majority of these dwellings are well recognized for their courtyard arrangement and perforated fenestration system that evolved to control the harsh solar, climatic conditions without compromising the aesthetic quality of space and occupants’ wellbeing. However, the unique visual characteristics of these structures cannot be fully appreciated by assessing the visual performance of buildings in isolation from their urban context. Given the fact that much of the character of the traditional settlements of this region came from the collective visual perception of their architectural components as well as urban patterns. This paper presents a methodology that can be used to assess daylight behaviour at an architectural level as well as at an urban scale. The work examines the daylight behaviour of a well-known historic alleyway and of a courtyard house in the old city of Cairo. The variability in the visual perception and comfort for a typical pedestrian street and the occupants of the house was predicted using Radiance IES simulation modelling tool and a scaled model under an artificial sky dome. A comparative analysis between simulated results and measured values at target points was conducted and the results reveal a reasonable agreement with the simulation results. Preliminary results from the first phase of modelling were presented that give an insight into the overall visual experience in the traditional settlements in the Old City of Cairo where daylight has contributed to the place unique sense of identity.